You can ban us, but you can’t stop us: TikTok

by Team TSD

May 17, 2019

Many would think the last few quarters have not been very good to TikTok. After all, the company paid out a fine of $5.7 Mn to the FTC, had to restrict its usage policies for under 13s, and even ended up getting banned in one of its biggest markets – India. However, despite all this and more, TikTok remains the most downloaded application on the iOS store in Q1, 2019.

According to data from a Sensor Tower report, the Apple App Store saw TikTok retain its crown of the most downloaded app for the fifth consecutive quarter, leaving behind names like YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. If we talk numbers, then the byte sized video app was downloaded over 11 Mn times from the app store, which interestingly, is the biggest quarterly download number for TikTok since 2015.

Here is what the picture looks like, for the most downloaded apps on the iOS store.

On the Android front however, TikTok fares slightly less well, although it still managed to come third, only behind WhatsApp and Messenger. All of these apps saw more than 150 Mn installs each in Q1 2019. Out of this 150 Mn+ figure, almost 90 Mn were from India.

TikTok could actually have missed the top spot on the Google Play Store, thanks to the Indian government’s ban over objectionable content, including pornography on the app. While the ban was lifted, Sensor Tower estimates that it set TikTok back by almost 15 Mn users.

This also highlights an interesting phenomenon, and one which had been a long time in the making. With Internet finally penetrating some of the most remote Indian villages, it would seem that the country is finally playing the kingmaker for consumer application and services – case in point, TikTok.

Globally, the app managed a third position, only behind WhatsApp and Messenger, and ahead of Facebook and Instagram, in terms of number of installs in Q1, 2019. Of its circa 170 Mn downloads, over 90 million were from India.